The Ninety-Nine Stone Steps

The corpses of two Supreme Ancestral Gods vanished without a trace. This touched the sensitive nerves of the gods. More than a dozen killing intents shook the Eternal Unknown.

Without the slightest warning, the two fleshy shells had been taken away by a secret art. The gods had seen this technique before—they knew Xiao Chen had arrived. He could conceal his tracks, and even they, powerful as they were, could not precisely lock onto his figure.

Xiao Chen was like a wild beast waiting for an opportunity in the darkness, ready to devour the powerful before him. His hollow eyes reflected the shadow of death as he prepared to strike, staining the long sky with blood.

All kinds of primordial divine laws swept and slaughtered in all directions. Everyone struck out. Although they could not locate Xiao Chen's whereabouts in a short time, intuition could guide them in the general direction.

This killing intent and attacking power were overwhelming. When all the gods attacked together, even Keke's father had to use the 'Eternal Myriad Worlds' step to move through the void to dodge—let alone Xiao Chen.

Just then, Keke's father did something that shocked everyone: he soared into the air and charged up the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps!

All the divine light aimed at Xiao Chen's direction converged and disappeared. The gods simultaneously attacked Keke's father without a moment's hesitation, displaying an unprecedented unity of purpose.

This member of the Heaven-Defying Clan was too lethal. With a single hand, he had killed two Supreme Ancestral Gods—a terrifying feat that shook hearts. Every move he made tugged at everyone's emotions.

Any casual gesture from him caused everyone's heartstrings to tighten to the breaking point, for fear he might do something shocking.

'Five Elements Seal the Heavens!' Keke's father waved his hand and cast a forbidden great divine art, blocking all the light that reached him. He continued charging upward along the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps.

'Stop him!' the gods shouted in unison.

The Eternal Unknown boiled. All kinds of brilliant light shone simultaneously, illuminating the ages, shaking the past, and stirring the future. This was the combined divine might of the gods—immeasurable power!

But Keke's father had already vanished beyond the first ten steps, charging onto the eighteenth stone step. All the destructive force merely struck an afterimage, only causing the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps to rumble and shake violently several times, as if they were about to shatter.

Everyone changed color. This place was also a forbidden land for the Otherworld gods. No one could set foot here. If they inadvertently damaged the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps, the consequences would be immeasurable.

'Ah…' A miserable cry rang out from behind the gods. A mist of blood surged. Xiao Chen, like a comet streaking across the sky, like a divine eagle swooping toward the earth, had found his opportunity and assassinated an Ancestral God!

The way of the assassin—a king of darkness, a cold-blooded beast waiting for the moment to strike, impossible to guard against.

When a supreme Ancestral God charged toward that spot, Xiao Chen's figure vanished again. The others only saw the severed arm of the assassinated victim and a great splash of blood dyeing the sky red—nothing else.

Xiao Chen refined that Ancestral God's fleshly shell and soul into the ancient scroll, then concealed himself once more. Of course, this time the distance was very far, outside the attack range of the gods.

'Activate the Demon-Subduing Reincarnation Formation!' a supreme Ancestral God bellowed, truly enraged. They knew that Xiao Chen's real cultivation should not be able to threaten them, yet he had repeatedly struck and wounded their powerful. Even a mud figure would lose its temper.

A world-shaking giant formation materialized in the Eternal Unknown, blocking the rear of the gods. They had to face the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps once more, because the pressure Keke's father brought them was simply too great.

'Bang, bang, bang…' Keke's father charged through twenty-seven stone steps in succession. A terrible pressure surged down from above. The mountain-like stone steps seemed to burn red like hot metal, radiating unimaginable heat as if divine iron had been melted, and emitting dreadful killing light.

'Four Images Return to Stillness! Five Elements Seal the Heavens!' Keke's father struck out with two divine principles in succession. The violent power shook the stone steps, causing everyone below to change color.

All the gods showed worry. The strength of this Heaven-Defying Clan member was unfathomable. They did not know if he would unleash another thunderous attack.

At present, the last Supreme Ancestral God had already disappeared atop the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. As long as they waited a moment longer, they believed everything would be rewritten. Even a powerful member of the Heaven-Defying Clan would be destroyed.

In this brief interlude, no accidents could be allowed. They had to guard against this heavenly slaughter star with all their might.

'Three Lifetimes of Yin and Yang!' 'Four Images Return to Stillness!' 'Five Elements Seal the Heavens!' 'Six Paths of Reincarnation!'

After a brief calm, Keke's father struck out with four great divine abilities in succession, shaking eternity, stirring past and present, shattering space, and disrupting time. These four terrifying beams did not strike the stone steps below but shot directly toward the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps.

This was practically defying heaven, doing something that many would not even dare to think about. If any celestial realm giant were here, they too would change color.

The end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps held too many secrets. Even a Stone Man King would not dare act rashly against the ultimate peak of this forbidden land.

All the gods changed color. The first three of the four great divine abilities might be somewhat unfamiliar to the gods, but the Six Paths of Reincarnation was a heaven-shading divine art. Any divine ability that could stand alongside it was naturally equally extraordinary. Four layers叠加—with such overwhelming destructive power, it was unparalleled!

The four great divine abilities shook the heavens, stirred the Eternal Unknown, and directly pierced through time and space, appearing at the boundless end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. Brilliant light illuminated the entire sky.

The Ninety-Ninth Stone Step, which had been far above and utterly impossible to see even a glimpse of, now shook violently. The gods all raised their primordial consciousness to the limit, watching with tense attention.

'Boom!' A sound of heaven and earth splitting apart. The high stone steps shook violently. A blurry scene was transmitted from afar.

The last Supreme Ancestral God was there, prostrating himself in worship, kneeling devoutly on the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps.

But at this moment, the stone steps shook. He was sent flying by a fierce force. If not for the final stone step emitting waves of eerie divine light, he would have been covered by the four heaven-shading divine abilities—even if not killed, he would have suffered severe injury.

The mysterious highest layer of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps seemed to be an altar. The Supreme Ancestral God's prostrations had just revealed this.

And at the end of the stone steps was endless mist. Even though the four heaven-shading divine abilities had forcibly pierced time and space and appeared there, they could not illuminate the unknown and unfathomable fog.

At the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps, there was a demonic power!

The endless mist seemed able to devour one's heart and mind. Even the gods could not help but tremble—it was terrifying, nearly demonic!

But the four heaven-shading divine arts had only shaken the final stone step. The endless mist at the end had not scattered at all. The four beams of light completely dimmed.

As the light faded, everyone saw nothing more. Even with their primordial senses raised to the limit, they could perceive nothing. As before, all the steps above were beyond detection.

A terrifying end, a mysterious and unfathomable power that filled one with dread at the unknown.

The Otherworld gods themselves did not know what secrets this forbidden land hid. It was only now, when Keke's father attacked with such heaven-shaking divine arts and brilliant light burst forth, that they saw a corner of the iceberg.

'Boom!'

At the foot of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps, the mist swirled. The Demon-Subduing Reincarnation Formation was forcibly broken open!

The five Dao imprints merged into the ancient scroll and overlapped with the five imposing figures, as if injecting a soul into the scroll, elevating this ultimate treasure into a true Heaven-Defying War Treasure!

Xiao Chen used it to absorb the divine power of the Demon-Subduing Reincarnation Formation, finally blasting open the giant formation and shattering the Eternal Unknown!

'You…' In the angry shout of an Ancestral God, the divine diagram split him apart, then he was pulled into the ancient scroll.

This time, the gods reacted swiftly, but still only managed to snatch back half a bloody leg. Another vibrant life had been stripped away.

'This man must die!'

At this moment, everyone realized they had severely underestimated Xiao Chen. He possessed several great killing weapons, and with his ability to conceal his tracks, his lethality was equally terrifying.

He was a king of the dark night, striking in the shadows, impossible to guard against.

'Kill him! He must be killed!' A supreme Ancestral God of the Eighth Heaven swept his gaze in all directions, his eyes shooting out beams of light ten thousand miles long. He was using divine arts to search for Xiao Chen. 'We must not let him reassemble the divine diagram, and we must shatter the Heavenly Stele imprints on his body—they must be destroyed!'

'You still call out, yet cannot summon the thing at the end of the stone steps. Since no one can protect you, then I will kill you.' Keke's father ascended to the Thirty-Sixth Stone Step. His voice was calm, but filled with great confidence.

Each huge, mountain-like step shook as if made of red-hot divine iron, radiating dreadful killing aura. He used his heaven-shaking divine arts to block all the destructive forces, step by step continuing upward.

'Eight Paths Cycle!' Keke's father casually struck out with a divine light toward the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. He actually intended to kill a Supreme Ancestral God on this Otherworld forbidden land.

Legend said no one dared to let blood stain this place. He was repeatedly crossing the line!

'Boom!'

The highest layer of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps blazed with light again. The divine radiance spread millions of miles, once again allowing the gods to perceive part of the blurry scene with their primordial senses.

The highest step, which seemed like an altar, leapt and trembled. The Supreme Ancestral God who had been prostrating in worship was sent flying backward by an unimaginable force, heavily crashing into the endless mist before him.

'Bang!'

He was knocked back again heavily. The altar-like stone step protected him, saving him from death. The Supreme Ancestral God stopped his worship, turned around, and looked down at Keke's father with an emotionless gaze.

'Heaven-Defying one, as formidable as you are, in the end you will fall!' It was the voice of the Supreme Ancestral God. He no longer prostrated but stood silently at the side of the stone step.

A terrible aura emanated, causing the gods to tremble. The Ninety-Nine Stone Steps plunged into endless darkness, and nothing could be seen.

At that moment, the divine light Keke's father had struck had long since dimmed. Everything above could no longer be perceived.

But suddenly, everyone saw two faint points of light, clearly transmitted down through the endless darkness.

Though as faint as fireflies, they were visible to everyone without the need for deliberate primordial sense—all could easily perceive them.

'Tap, tap, tap…' It sounded like an aged person slowly walking in an empty tunnel or a deathly silent tomb chamber, the soles of his feet meeting hard stone, producing a sound that made one's scalp tingle.

Everyone felt suffocated. All the gods felt chills down their spines. They had never imagined that their own forbidden land was so demonic that it made them feel their hair stand on end.

It was a formless pressure and intimidation, a dread-filled oppression. Many felt as if the ancestor of death had seized their throats—an indescribable discomfort and terror.

Keke's father stopped at the Forty-Ninth Stone Step, unmoving like a fossil. From his eyes shot two beams of nine-colored divine light, fixedly gazing at the highest point.

'Tap, tap, tap…' The terrible footsteps continued still, very slow, like a dying old man wandering between life and death in the mortal world.

After more than a dozen footsteps, they slowly came to a halt, fixed at the Eighty-First Stone Step. The crowd could clearly see the two faint points of light stop there.

'Is it you disturbing my rest?' A senile voice, like two pieces of old tree bark rubbing together—aged, unpleasant, and terrifying. It was hard to imagine how decrepit he had become.

And his use of the word 'rest' for himself only made him sound like a terrifying fiend awakened from slumber.

'I would rather you remained silent forever.' Keke's father was expressionless, calmly gazing at the Eighty-First Stone Step above.

'Is that so?' Just two words shook the heavens, causing the Eternal Unknown to blur. Chaos shattered and reformed. At the same time, the black curtain on the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps gradually receded, revealing all eighty-one steps. They could be dimly seen.

But above the eighty-first step, it was still pitch black—impossible to peer into.

Standing on the Eighty-First Stone Step was a stone man.

His body was very withered—an aged man in his declining years standing there, trembling and unsteady, making one worry he would fall at any moment.

Moreover, his body was crisscrossed with dozens of terrible cracks, like porcelain that had shattered and been forcibly glued back together. It seemed a light tap would shatter him into pieces.

A seemingly extremely decrepit stone man, covered in hidden injuries, gaunt and malformed.

Those two faint points of light were the light from his stone eyes, which had just been seen through the endless darkness. They gave one an unfathomable feeling.

And yet this old stone man emanated a heart-stopping, terrible aura. The Supreme Ancestral God stood very respectfully beside him, like a child who had done wrong facing a strict teacher.

'You are a descendant of the sinners of the Chaos Land.' The old stone man was extremely ancient, wrinkles covering his face. Since it was a stone body, they looked as if carved by knife and axe.

Speaking thus, his eyes slightly opened and closed, shooting two eerie rays of light. He murmured to himself, 'You are the direct descendant of one of the five fallen Stone Man Kings. No wonder you are called the Heaven-Defying Clan. You indeed have enough capital to be proud.'

The old stone man's voice was extremely old and feeble, but at this moment it intimidated everyone. No one dared to speak, let alone make any move.

The gods were shocked. They had never known what lay at the end of the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps. Today, unexpectedly, they saw such an unfathomable old stone man—this was definitely a Stone Man King who had taken the final step!

They felt they had been too ignorant. In the past, they had been thrilled that one of their world's stone men was about to take the final step, thinking they could rival the Celestial Realm. But today they learned that their own side had such an ancestor.

'Tell your descendant to return my child's soul. Otherwise, I will turn this place into a graveyard, take half your life, and make all your descendants here be buried with us!'

Keke's father showed no fear, staring fixedly at the decayed Stone Man King who had hardly any form left.

This time, the old stone man did not speak. The Supreme Ancestral God beside him let out a cold voice: 'If I were you, I would endure until I became a supreme king. What a pity—if you do not become king, you are nothing but dust. Your ambition may be great, but it cannot change this. In the end, you could not hold back and jumped out…'

'Everyone dies. If I cannot succeed, there will be later ones to shatter the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps and bury everything you have!' Keke's father's words were very calm, facing all this with equanimity.

'You are wrong. Shattering the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps means nothing. If you learn the truth, you will forever hold this place in awe.' Just then, the old stone man, whose body was covered in cracks and gaunt as firewood, suddenly spoke slowly.

'I have already guessed that at the end of these Ninety-Nine Stone Steps there must be something mysterious and extremely terrifying, but nothing in this world is indestructible…' Keke's father's tall figure stood straight.

'Oh? I sense a familiar aura from an old acquaintance…' The old stone man's ancient, wrinkled face showed a trace of surprise, then his expression changed as he said in a deep voice, 'It seems to be my brother!' Saying this, he slowly raised his withered left hand and extended a finger like dry firewood, pointing toward a certain area below the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps.

A hazy ray of light, seemingly extremely ordinary, made the gods shiver, feeling their hearts shake and tremble.

Xiao Chen was immediately alarmed. The hazy light was shooting straight toward him! 'My brother' of the old stone man… clearly, the aura of the Otherworld Dao imprints had allowed this terrifying old Stone Man King to sense a trace of the divine charm.

'Six Paths of Reincarnation!' Keke's father acted decisively. Six worlds manifested, shattering eternity and cutting off that hazy light. They entangled fiercely and submerged into each other.

Everyone was horrified. A casual finger point from the old Stone Man King required a heaven-shading divine art like the Six Paths of Reincarnation to cut off—truly shocking.

Then the gods were incomparably elated.

'You endured through all the ages, your ambition vast. But in the end, you could not let go of family bonds. The outcome is already determined.' The old stone man slowly shook his head and sighed. 'Since ancient times, true geniuses have been few and far between. There are truly few who can catch my eye. You cannot avoid turning into yellow earth.' The old Stone Man King said this very calmly, his ancient voice like a curse, making one's scalp tingle.

'Boom, boom, boom…' The sound of a heavenly drum came, shaking the Eternal Unknown.

The Supreme Ancestral God standing beside the old stone man frowned and said, 'Someone has broken into our world and is causing trouble!'

'Is that so? Let someone come to your home and make a scene…' The old stone man's voice was very deep, but the pressure it brought made some gods feel hard to bear. Clearly, he was dissatisfied with the gods and disappointed in them.

Everyone was silent as cicadas in autumn, not daring to make any sign.

'Let me see who it is…' The old stone man tore through space with his palm and fingers, opening a pitch-black, deep passage that instantly connected to the Otherworld.

A dragon cry resounded through the nine heavens, coming from deep within the black passage. A woman shouted angrily in the Otherworld: 'You killed my child…'

The old stone man slowly closed the black passage and said, 'Just a mutated little dragon. It can't stir up any waves.'

'Boom!' Just then, a great tremor suddenly came from the land of the Nine Provinces, actually shaking the Eternal Unknown, and the fluctuations spread here!

'So it was you buying time for him! You should already know that he has been noticed by our world, and at the critical moment, his Dao fruit will be seized.' The old stone man's eyes instantly shot out two terrible killing lights. 'But even if you block it, in the end you cannot change anything.'

He raised a withered hand, piercing through the world barrier, and struck toward the Nine Provinces.

'Seven Worlds Reincarnation! Eight Paths Cycle! Nine Times Return to One! Eternal Myriad Worlds!' Keke's father shouted. Boundless divine light traversed past and present, shaking the past and affecting the future, stirring all heavens and myriad worlds. This place was completely impossible to see or probe, utterly submerged by heaven-shaking divine arts!

The Ninety-Nine Stone Steps no longer existed. In this place, there was nothing but light.

Mysterious and unfathomable, terrifying laws connected all worlds. Primordial laws of myriad worlds simultaneously pressed down!

After a very long time, the Ninety-Nine Stone Steps slowly reappeared.

Keke's father's clothes were stained with a string of shocking blood blossoms. He had already fallen from the Forty-Ninth Stone Step to the Forty-Second, but he still stood straight, his clothes rustling in the wind.

And that old Stone Man King stood motionless on the Eighty-First Stone Step. His withered hand slowly withdrew.

Clearly, Keke's father was at an absolute disadvantage, but everyone was still shocked. He had actually managed to block a Stone Man King's terrifying blow, withstand that palm filled with boundless killing intent!

'I will not allow anyone to take the final step in the Nine Provinces.' The old Stone Man King's words were very calm, but filled with supreme pressure.

Someone was actually rushing toward the final step, about to ascend to the Stone Man King realm in the Nine Provinces! Everyone was astonished. Keke's father had not only come for Keke but also to buy time!

'I also said I would take half your life and make all the gods here accompany you to the grave!' Keke's father stood proudly. He, who was usually carefree and indifferent to everything, was now exceptionally strong-willed.

'Do you bully me for being old and frail?' The old Stone Man King shook his head. 'I have survived well for a reason…'

'Then try it…' The gods in the distance were shocked.

On the old Stone Man King's head, among the stone-like hair, several dozen gray hairs had grown. Though they were very sparse, it felt incredible—only flesh-and-blood bodies had hair; how could they have grown on his stone head?!